Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government has reached a deal with Pfizer to buy an extra 20 million doses of the vaccine it produced with its German partner BioNTech.
During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the prime minister highlighted that Canada is now set to receive 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year.
“We’re on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine, to receive one by September,” Trudeau said.
He also noted that between January and sometime between April and June, Canada will have enough doses to vaccinate up to 20 million people against the deadly coronavirus.
The prime minister says that the federal government is currently developing plans with provinces and territories to ensure vaccines are distributed quickly and efficiently.
“On top of that, we will, of course, continue to work to get even more vaccines delivered as soon as we can,” said the prime minister.
In British Columbia, 59,902 people have received the vaccine as of Sunday night.
The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says the first dose of the vaccine for COVID-19 gives “amazing” immunity, so the government has made the decision to allow for a 35-day gap before the second dose is administered.
For the Pfizer vaccine, the recommended gap between doses is 21 days, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In addition to providing an update on the Pfizer vaccine distribution, Trudeau also announced the Canada-U. S. land border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least Feb. 21 – another 30-day extension to the restrictions in place since mid-March.
With files to Canadian Press.
Graham Cox
